Hikers airlifted off El Cajon Mountain

EAST COUNTY  Three lost hikers in their mid-20s were airlifted to safety off El Cajon Mountain in Lakeside Sunday night in a tricky operation involving two helicopters.

The trio called for help about 8:30 p.m. and said they did not know where they were and that they had no food, water or warm clothes, said Deputy Scott Bligh, a sheriff's helicopter pilot.

A helicopter crew used night vision goggles to locate the hikers on a southeast facing slope of the mountain just west of the El Capitan Reservoir Dam, Bligh said. The three were in a shallow canyon surrounded by steep and rocky terrain with no suitable landing spots for the helicopter.

Visibility was reduced because heavy ash from the Monte fire that had raged through the area about three weeks ago was being blown around by the rotors.

The hikers were roughly in the same area where a sheriff’s helicopter crew whisked away two other hikers who had been surrounded by that fire.

The crew determined that the hikers would have to hoisted to safety and called for the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department’s Copter 2 to assist, Bligh said.

The sheriff’s crew guided them to the hikers with the use of a laser attached to their infrared equipment, Bligh said.

Due to the blowing ash and difficult terrain, the helicopter had to hover higher than usual to lift the three from the mountainside.

They were flown to El Monte Park where they were seen by medics. The hikers did not require medical treatment, Bligh said.